Lumley Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

Large castle and 3 ranges around service court; now an hotel. Licences to crenellate 1382 and 1392; altered c.1570-80, and 1721 by Sir John Vanbrugh. Early C18 service court. Dressed and ashlar sandstone, pantiled roofs and stone chimneys. Quadrangular plan: 4 ranges round courtyard with 4 angle towers; 3 ranges round service court on north. Hall in west range. Interior. Vaulted medieval ground floor with pointed doorways and jewel stairs in towers. Hall in west range retains 3 doorways behind screen and has c.1570 classical stone fireplace. 2-storey kitchen with 3 fireplaces in north-west tower. (Listed Building Report - medieval parts only)

Late 14th century crenellated fortified house quadrangular in plan comprising four three-storey ranges arranged round a courtyard with four four-storey angle towers. Licences to crenellate took place in 1382 and 1392. A chapel documented in 1432 was situated in the northeast tower. Alterations to the house were made circa 1580 and 1721. It is constructed of dressed and ashlar sandstone with pantiled roofs. Additions to the house were made in the 20th century, and it is now used as a hotel. The site has been interpreted as a possible site of a Roman signal station due to the presence of Roman masonry. (PastScape summary)

The strong parallels between the design of Lumley Castle and the design of Raby, Bolton, and Brancepeth Castles suggests that they were all designed by a single architect, probably John Lewyn. (PastScape ref. Hislop, 1996)

A Durham Palatinate licence to crenellate was granted in 1389 Nov 10 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).
A Royal licence to crenellate was confirmed in 1392 Oct 24.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1120960
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 24697.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) D11009.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Lumley Castle Hotel owners site
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Wikipedia entry
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Brears, Peter, 2011, 'The Administrative Role of Gatehouses in Fourteenth-Century North-Country Castles' in Airs, M. and Barnwell, P.S. (eds), The Medieval Great House (Donington: Shaun Tyas) p. 200-213
  Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 329, 331-2, 439
  Geldard, Ed, 2009, Northumberland Strongholds (London: Frances Lincoln) p. 110
  Hislop, M., 2007, John Lewyn of Durham: a medieval mason in practice (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges: British Archaeological Reports British Series 438) p. 32-34, 61-63
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 42-5
  Cooper, Nicholas, 1999, Houses of the Gentry, 1480-1680 (Yale University Press) p. 320
  Jackson, M.J., 1996, Castles of Durham and Cleveland (Carlisle) p. 42-4
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 117-21, 159
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 30-1
  Corfe, Tom (ed), 1992, 'The Visible Middle Ages' in An Historical Atlas of County Durham p. 28-9
  Jackson-Stops, G. (ed), 1985, The Treasure Houses of Great Britain p. 60-2, 81, 297, 346
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 136
  Pevsner, N., 1983 (Revised by Williamson, Elizabeth), Buildings of England: Durham (London, Penguin) p. 357-62
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 258
  Hugill, Robert, 1979, The Castles and Towers of the County of Durham (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p. 68-75
  Tipping, H.A., 1928, English Homes, period 4 Vol. 2 (London) p. 291-4
  Tipping, H.A., 1921, English Homes, period 1 Vol. 1 (London) p. 247-57
  1919, Antiquities of Sunderland Vol. 18 p. 1-10
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Leighton, 1910, in Memories of Old Durham (London) p. 207-8 (slight)
  Welford, R. (ed), 1905, Records of the Committees for Compounding, etc., with delinquent royalists in Durham and Northumberland, 1643-60 (Surtees Society 111) p. 262-4 online copy
  Milner, E. and Benham, E., 1904, Records of the Lumleys of Lumley Castle
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 346-8 online copy
  Whellan, F., 1894 (2edn), History, Topography and Directory of the County of Durham p. 825
  Howitt, W., c1850 (new edn 1896), Visits to Remarkable Places p. 275-83
  Boyle, J.R., 1892, Comprehensive Guide to the County of Durham: its Castles, Churches, and Manor-Houses (London) p. 425-37
  Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol. 3 (London) p. 304-10 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 206-7, 420 online copy
  Parsons, W. and White, W., 1828, History and Directory of Durham and Northumberland Vol. 2 p. 151-2
  Surtees, R., 1816-40 (1972 Reprint), The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (London) Vol. 2 p. 153-4 (King writes unimportant) online transcription
  Brayley, E. and Britton, J., 1803, Beauties of England and Wales; Durham Vol. 5 p. 189-91
  Hutchinson, Wm, 1788, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol. 2 p. 505-17 online copy
  Buck, Samuel and Nathaniel, 1774, Buck's Antiquities (London) Vol. 1 p. 86
Periodical Articles
- 2012-13, 'Castle Studies Group Conference 2012 report' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 26 p. 119-133
  Hislop, M. 1996, 'Lumley Castle, its Antecedents and its Architect' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser5) Vol. 24 p. 83-98
  Selkirk, R., 1987 Feb, Popular Archaeology p. 31
  Webb, G.F., 1955, 'Lumley Castle' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 111 p. 212-3
  Tipping, H.A., 1910, Country Life Vol. 27 p. 896-905 (Reprinted in English Homes)
  Hunter-Blair, C., 1910, 'The Armorials of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser3) Vol. 6 p. 120, 179-81 online copy
  1905-6, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (ser3) Vol. 2 p. 134-5
  Dodd, J., 1866, 'Lumley Castle' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol. 22 p. 45-6 (slight) online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- 1872 The Thirty-third Annual Report of Deputy Keeper of the Public Record
  Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) (lists sources for 1272-1422) p. 188
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 152, 156
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 74 online copy

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